jish1969

The rims on my Paramount are pretty beat up and I want to replace them soon before i go on a 145 mile ride. I have Campagnolo record hubs, 36 hole high flange, and I was just wondering if I could use them with some new 700c rims. Would this be a good move or should I look for some new(er) 27 inch rims. Has anyone ever done this before and which do you prefer for touring?

choteau

If you lace them yourself, you might need to buy shorter spokes for the 700's. Sheldon Brown has a lacing tutorial that makes it easy. Have your LBS true them, and ride.... Some say if your going to the effort to relace, use new spokes. I've had good luck reusing the old ones tho. Tim

canopus 

I am in the process of building up my 1985 Cannondale ST400 that originally had 27" rims on it. The only problem I had was that the front brake was a tad short (I mean 1mm short) with the original pads to fully reach the rims. So I could either replace the brakes (Tektro makes some with a 55-73mm reach) or what I did was order some original Scott Mathauser brakes shoes and will use those instead with my campy brakes. As long as your brakes can reach I don't see a problem. A 700X35C tire should be about the same width as a 27 X 1 3/8.

jish1969

Thanks for the info, I'm gonna go ahead and replace the spokes too because one is broken and a few more aren't looking too good but as long as I can keep the Campy hubs I will be happy. Do you think going to 700's is better though, or is it just a matter of preference, I've never ridden anything axcept 27's so I dont know.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Personally I think its a good move as long as your brake calipers reach. Most do, its not much of a difference between 27 and 700c. You'll gain a world of new tire choices.

Use good double butted spokes when you build the wheels back up. They'll weigh a little less and are very durable. If you have a spoke wrench you could easily true the wheels yourself.

Little Darwin

Another alternative, if you don't mind the work or modification to your brakes, you can lengthen the slot in your existing brakes enough to move the extra mm. In most cases, you ould expans enough to accommodate the extra 4mm needed if your brakes are bottomed out for 27" rims.

jish1969

So another question then, if I went with the 700x35c rims and kept the Campy hubs, what size spokes do I go with? I was just looking on Amazon and there are so many choices that I am officially clueless.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

you need to use a spoke calculator to figure that out. You need to be pretty right on with your measurements.

check this page out
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/spocalc.htm

I use the 'Spocalc' excel sheet and my calculations are always right (as long as I measure correctly)
further down that page is instructions for measuring your hubs.

You'll also need the ERD (Effective Rim Diameter) of the rim you're planning on using, even though they're all 700c they have slightly different ERD's which will change the spoke length you need. The Rim manufacturer will provide the ERD of the rim.